


Hot chocolate

by justAleks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Kinda, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, hot chocolate and cuddles, hot chocolate is the answer to any woes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29616603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justAleks/pseuds/justAleks
Summary: When Remus pays Sirius an unannounced visit and learns that the man has locked himself in the room and intends to stay there, he decides to, at the very least, sweeten his sulking a bit.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Hot chocolate

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Gorąca czekolada](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29616255) by [justAleks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justAleks/pseuds/justAleks). 



> yeah, so I really wanted to finally write and post something and that WIP has been sitting in my folder forgotten, and since I promised it to my friend a looong time ago... this is the result

Winter, which was still hiding in the corners of the city in the form of frozen and, above all, dirty snow, apparently decided to crawl out of its hiding in the evening. Its cold fingers tickled unpleasantly any exposed piece of flesh, and cold air eagerly crept under clothes. After the sunny afternoon passed, the only thing that remained was the greyness of the early evening, bright just enough to still be called day. Barely.

Remus tucked his nose into the soft scarf and quickened his pace, wanting to get to Sirius' home as soon as possible. Although calling Grimmauld Place "home" required a healthy dose of objectivity, imagination, self-denial, and the right conditions. Especially now, as the mansion was covered with dust, spiders have become its fully-fledged inhabitants, and only Kreacher, sulking from corner to corner and lamenting over the fate of the house and fate of the Black family at large, was the last living proof that this house was not completely abandoned. The old house-elf tried with all his might to stop time and keep the property in splendor, but it was a fight doomed to fail.

An exceptionally agile gust of wind sneaked under Remus' sweater and the man walked even faster, Grimmauld Place 12 barely had a chance to reveal itself, and Lupin has already loped over the old stairs. The man only slowed down right at the door.

The man slowly entered the dark hall and closed the door as quietly as possible. A part of him expected to be greeted by a friendly chatter coming from deeper in the house, but all he heard was the ubiquitous murmurs and creaking of old wood. He took a deep breath and struggled to suppress a sneeze from the dust flying freely in the air.

Lupin scratched at his nose and pulled his jacket off his shoulders, Remus barely managed to cross the threshold, and he had already seen Kreacher glare daggers at him. Lupin smiled kindly at the creature, and the elf immediately stalked out of the hall, muttering under his breath. Remus had quickly learned that the best way to keep Kreacher out of openly antagonizing him was to be overly friendly and kind to the creature, so much so that he’d get cavities from the excess of sweetness. Now, the elf got out of his way as soon as Remus appeared in his field of vision.

“Do you know where Sirius is?” Shouted Lupin in the direction where the elf had gone, and after a moment of intensified grumbling, an answer reached his ears.

“Nothing but lies in bed! And if he does not lie, he barks at Kreacher ‘do this! Don't do that! Get out of my face! Come!’ ”or he's guzzling beer! If only Mrs. Black was alive …” The creature’s tirade was moving away deeper into the house, but it was enough to give Lupin a clue of what was happening.

Sirius wasn’t dealing well with his forced house arrest, and, frankly, Lupin didn't blame him for the bouts of depression. The gloomy house, full of unpleasant memories, certainly did not help. A plan to cheer him up immediately sprung into Remus' head and the man marched into the kitchen and started rummaging around the cupboards and refrigerator, trying to locate the ingredients and items he needed, without calling Kreacher for help.

The middle drawer of the old and hellishly heavy cupboard, which was tucked into the corner of the kitchen, bared the cutlery hidden in it like a mad dog bares its teeth, and Remus tried to close it gently. The drawer rattled with the family silverware, angry that someone had the nerve to touch it.

"Good cupboard, very good drawer," he murmured soothingly. The drawer clanged its knives but allowed itself to be closed. The next drawer Lupin opened more carefully, angling his body in a way to avoid any unexpected attack. Unnecessarily, because the drawer showed no evil intentions, and instead offered a surprising collection of spoons and teaspoons. Remus picked up two of them and closed the thing with his hip. The man found the mugs much easier because two of them were hung by the lugs, on hooks attached to the wall. Judging by their relative cleanliness, they had to be used quite frequently by the house resident, but Remus, just to be safe, got rid of dust or any other uncleaned residues lingering on them with a wave of his wand.

He looked at the ancient refrigerator, tucked into the opposite corner of the kitchen. Her door, covered with carved-wood, was extremely reluctant to be opened which it announced with a prolonged whine, and the chill of a recently renewed freezing spell pinched at Remus' nose.

The man blinked and sighed as it became obvious that Sirius had grossly neglected its contents. Three eggs, a piece of cheese, a remnant of butter, and what seemed to be a cucumber represent with itself the definition of misery and despair. On the shelf above them, there was a collection of beer cans. Remus grabbed the intact four-pack and relocated it to the pantry. This allowed him to see an unopened carton of milk in the furthermost corner of the freezing leviathan. Fortunately, the expiration was yet to be reached, but Remus genuinely doubted they would drink it by tomorrow.

He closed the refrigerator, shook off the clingy cold, and walked, armed with the milk, back to the cupboards. This time luck was on Remus’ side as he found a pot large enough to hold a liter of milk right after opening the first door.

The stove hissed, sputtered, and finally came to life after he had to poke the burner with the tip of the wand. Remus put the pot on the burner, poured the milk into it, and reached into the cupboard to the left of the stove. This time, he knew where to look for dark chocolate, because not only had he brought it the last time he visited Sirius, but he had also witnessed where Black had stashed it. As it turned out, sugar and salt were hidden on the shelf under the one harboring the chocolate, behind the coffee can.

When the milk began to boil, Remus put the pot on the other, cold, burner so that he could find another pot for the rest of the milk. Eyeballing the probable amount the two mugs could fit, he poured out less than half of the hot milk and left it to cool. Boiled, it should be drinkable a bit longer.

Remus turned the temperature down, returned the pot onto the burner, and tossed inside a few pieces of chocolate, four generous teaspoons of sugar, and a pinch of salt.

He charmed one of the spoons to slowly stir the milk while he went back to rummaging around in the cupboard, trying to locate the cinnamon.

“... They're just messing around, they are tainting the Black family house …” Kreacher’s grumblings burbled behind Remus' back.

“They make hot chocolate to make the life of its owner that much sweeter, instead of complaining about everything.” Remus looked over his shoulder at the house-elf who had the decency to end the topic and march out of the kitchen.

“There is no cinnamon, but Kreacher brought a bottle of rum from the pantry and put it in the cupboard.” If Remus didn’t have a keen ear, the helpful, albeit offered in an extremely brash tone, advice would have gone unnoticed.

“Thank you, Kreacher!” Kreacher’s only response was quickened pace. Lupin smiled to himself and amused began humming softly some old tune.

Remus walked over to the cupboard, just as old and carved as the refrigerator, and peered inside looking for a bottle of rum. Beautiful, painted porcelain shone as if it had just been polished. Lupin blinked in surprise and porcelain platters, plates, bowls, and cups glimmered in response from the occupied shelves. Remus checked the furniture for any illusion spells, and looked deeper in, he finally saw a bottle with its seal already broken in the corner. Hulling it had to be preceded by a few bowls being levitated out to avoid any unnecessary property damage. 

He poured a bit of the alcohol into the mugs and poured the hot drink over it. The chocolate has already nicely melted. Lupin wished the refrigerator had been stocked with heavy cream to add to the drink some thickness, but he wasn't going to complain too much. Thin hot chocolate definitely beat a complete lack of it. A quick _Scourgify_ cast over the dirty pot got rid of any chocolaty remains, the cooled milk was put back in the fridge and the rum went back to the cupboard.

Remus made the mugs levitate with a wave of his wand and headed for Sirius' bedroom. The mugs flew after him so smoothly that the hot chocolate barely stirred in them. On the third floor, Remus could hear Buckbeak moving around its new room-turned-stable. Straw was sticking out from under the door of the former bedroom. Remus rolled his eyes and strode into the room to kick some of the more daring stalks back inside. The hippogriff huffed intrigued and scratched at the wood.

On the top floor, Remus slowed his pace as he strained his hearing, but there was no sound coming from Sirius' room. The man walked up to the door and knocked. A low, grouchy bark came through the wood in lieu of a response. Literally.

“I'm coming in, Sirius!” Remus heard claws scraping on the floor, and when he opened the door, Sirius was scrambling out from under the bed. The big black pooch was barking more vigorously now and wagging its tail, but he was still a dog, now sitting on the bed. Lupin had to make sure that his smile did not contain even a gram of sadness.

”Come on Siri, I'm not sure hot chocolate won’t harm you while on all fours.”

“For future reference, nothing would happen," Sirius, now kneeling on the sheets, stretched and shook his hands as if they were cramping. Remus sat on the edge of the bed and two mugs flew after him. He grabbed the one closest to him, and Black grabbed the other one and took a sip immediately. Remus watched in fascination as the man swallowed the still-hot drink without any problems. Lupin was still waiting for the temperature of his chocolate to drop low enough that it longer threatened to burn him.

“Ooooh, spiked chocolate! You’re spoiling me, Remy!”

“If you meant encouraging unhealthy habits, then yes” shrugged Remus. Black ignored the hint and blew him a kiss.

“So I understand that you are having a lazy day, today?” Lupin pretended that he didn't see a mess in the room and Sirius pretended that it wasn't there at all. Black leaned against the headboard and patted the space next to him.

“Want to laze around together?” 

Remus looked out the window at the gray London. As he was bustling around the kitchen, the day turned into an evening that encouraged to do nothing. He looked at Sirius, at his disheveled hair, at the shadows under his eyes, at his tired gaze. Not for the first time, he wished Sirius was more open with his needs and fears.

“Is there anything that goes better with hot chocolate than cuddles?” Remus cautiously, as to not spill his drink, moved to settle himself next to Black, who immediately sank further down and rested his head on his shoulder.

“You want some ear scritches?” Lupin asked amused. Sirius wiggled for a moment longer, waving his wand, which materialized in his hand out of nowhere, and covered their legs with a blanket Remus remembered from his school days.

“Ah, please give some,” Black looked at him and smiled sweetly. Remus shifted the mug to his other hand and put his arm around Sirius.

“So cozy...” Black's voice cracked on the last syllable when Remus started scratching Sirius behind the ear, deliberately choosing the moment when he tried to take another sip of hot chocolate. The man almost spilled his drink, laughing out loud. Satisfied with himself, Lupin stopped scratching him, and instead, he began tracing lazy circles on Sirius' arm with his thumb.

“You could have warned me you'd come over. I would prepare something to eat ... or rather, make the Kreacher do it.” Sirius leaned more comfortably against Remus' side.

“It reminds me… after we finish the hot chocolate we have to go to a muggle hypermarket. You need to stock your fridge. It’s a barren landscape inside, nothing but chill and frost.”

“Remy, the sun of my life, ray of hope and man of my heart, I don't know if you know, but I can't poke my nose outta the house.” Sirius stared sadly into his mug. Remus ruffled his hair.

“Well then, I will take Padfoot out for a walk, you have a shop right under your nose. We will go there late enough that no one will object to you accompanying me inside. You'll make pretty eyes and steal the cashiers' hearts.” Lupin smiled at the excitement on Sirius' face.

“Really? You gonna follow up on that plan?”

"Siri, you've smuggled me around Hogwarts for years, nothing will happen if I repay you once in a while. We just have to be extra careful. A quick trip to a hypermarket with no unnecessary stops. You all furred over and me right next to you.

“Yeah, sure. I'll be so polite, Muggles will fall in love with me,” Sirius promised quickly. Lupin hugged him tighter to his side.

“We have some time to laze around for now,” he reminded and smooched the top of the black head, stuffed under his chin.

“And not only that,” Sirius smiled slyly. The previous void filling his eyes was finally chased away by the sparks of the mischief. Lupin allowed the seventy kilos of live weight to crash into his lap.

“Siri, darling, chocolate first. Drink while it's still warm and then we can indulge you some more.”

Another amused smile took literal years off Sirius' face, and Lupin placed his free hand on the man's thigh, holding him in place.

“Sure, sure.”

Remus sealed the promise with a chocolate-sweet kiss.


End file.
